Rural communities in Uruguay are undergoing a transformation into world-class cultural hubs as a result of the proliferation of artistic institutions along the country's sunny coastline.
At the Uruguayan coastal town of José Ignacio, I was sitting on a granite bench inside a little house with a domed ceiling. Insects buzzed around me, and frogs croaked as they called out to one another. It was a hot day in late January, and Felipe, my partner, and I were staring at the orange sunset through a hole in the snow-white marble ceiling of "Ta Khut," which was the first freestanding Skyspace installation in South America and was created by the American artist James Turrell. Visitors will find themselves falling into an almost meditative state of mind as a result of the structure's internal lighting, which is synchronised with the natural fade that occurs at dawn and sunset.
One evening, there were perhaps thirty of us gathered together, and we were all mesmerized by the shifting colors that came before us: dandelion and violet one minute, black and lavender the next. As the sky outside grew darker, faint bolts of heat lightning could be heard crackling through the open roof. Meanwhile, the Skyscape continued to shine more brightly. After waiting for forty minutes, we slowly crawled out of our brightly closured cocoon and into the pitch black night. The other several dozen artworks that were strewn about our 17-room motel, Posada Ayana, would have to wait until the next day to be discussed.
It had not been simple for me to persuade Felipe to accompany me on a trip to the Atlantic coast of Uruguay for a long weekend filled with cultural activities. Punta del Este is a kind of flashy want tobe Miami, where Brazilian models, Argentine soccer players, and Chilean reality stars go to be photographed by paparazzi. He had associated the region with its main hub, Punta del Este, which is located in Santiago, Chile. He is the deputy director of an art museum in Santiago. That is to say, it is not an appropriate location for someone of his aesthetic sensibilities.
On the flight to Punta, he was distracted by the large number of people, but as the day went on, Felipe started to warm up to the idea. We had lunch at Café El Tesoro, a restaurant that is located within the same building as the retail concept store 3 Mundos, which we visited in the low-key resort town of La Barra, which is located approximately ten kilometers east of Punta. We dined on delicacies that were influenced by cuisines from all over the world, such as tuna tartare with turmeric tostadas and a creamy burrata salad with pistachio pesto. Our table was decorated with an assortment of art books, blown glass, and ceramics. After spending some time in Skyscape earlier that day, we were able to come to a conclusion that we were both in agreement with later that evening: regardless of Punta's reputation, the cities to the east of it are developing a more international creative environment that has significant potential.
The once-unassuming fishing community of José Ignacio, located around 40 minutes east of Punta, is at the centre of this transformation. In the past few decades, it has developed into a posh beachfront enclave filled with galleries, such as the new ceramics studio of Argentine sculptor Marcela Jacob; boutiques, such as the octagonal temple of books Rizoma; and statement architecture, such as Edgardo Giménez's cartoonish Casa Neptuna, which just recently began housing the art residency of Fundación Ama Amadeo, which is a place where creatives with
It is said that José Ignacio is the South American equivalent of the Hamptons, yet this reputation belies the town's carefree spirit. It's true that the homes here cost several million dollars, however the majority of them are located on unpaved roads. And, in contrast to the majority of the Hamptons, the vegetation has not been cultivated to the point of monotonous perfection; rather, it is still free-spirited and wild, much like the location itself.
People frequently give credit for establishing the culture to Francis Mailman. In 1978, the eccentric and fire-loving Argentine chef opened Posada del Mar, a restaurant at the far end of the José Ignacio lagoon. This establishment is largely responsible for putting this location on the map. Late in the year 2020, he went back to a significantly altered José Ignacio to introduce Chiringuito Francis Mailman, a seaside establishment that Felipe and I went to on the second day of our trip.
The restaurant is a high-end take on the casual beach stalls that are common in South American countries. It is part of the Costa Garzón development, which will also include a boutique hotel in 2024. "It's a location where you can eat and drink on the beach without having to wear shoes, then relax, and go for a swim," remarked Mallmann, who happened to be in the vicinity of the establishment when it was being described.
That's exactly what Felipe and I did: we gorged ourselves on a rib eye topped with chimichurri and fried on a plancha. The following morning, we packed up and left José Ignacio in order to make our way to Luz Culinary Wine Resort. The contemporary hotel with six suites was opened in November of last year on a 35-acre estate that was filled with vines and olive trees. Its location along the road to Pueblo Garzón, which was our next destination, was quite convenient.
Pueblo Garzón, located a half-hour inland and surrounded by grasslands, may very well be the Marfa of the Southern Hemisphere. If José Ignacio is the Hamptons of the Southern Hemisphere, then Pueblo Garzón is its Marfa. The town's population has decreased from approximately 2,000 to the current level of 200 as a direct result of the closing of a railway line in the 1960s, which was previously the town's primary source of economic activity. Nonetheless, the village has not lost any of its fairytale appeal. During the course of the last ten years, several of the vacant houses have been purchased by artists who have transformed them into galleries.
For the Revengers: In South America, it is summer now, so, instead of the Hamptons, my family goes to Punta del Este. Here are some images. Have a lovely remainder of the day ! pic.twitter.com/v6IJSHGjd3
— Julien 719 (@JulienNewYork) December 29, 2019
"When I first arrived in 2009, I felt like I'd found a secret location nobody else knew about," remembered American photographer Heidi Lender, who launched the creative institution Campo in 2017. Lender is the founder of the Campo Creative Institute, which was established in 2017. "It just had this oddball, off-the-beaten-path environment that's wonderful for any artist," said the person who found the place.
We learnt about the yearly Campo Artfest, which has been instrumental in putting Pueblo Garzón on the map, at Campo's Canteen, which is a place where you can have conversations with local artists. In the month of December, more than thirty artists take over the town and turn it into a creative playground, including the town's ancient train station and the plaza that is shaded by palm trees. During a stroll, we spotted twelve permanent galleries, two of which had only arrived a month earlier. Moreover, more permanent galleries are opening their doors.
The first is called Walden Nature and it is an ambitious branch of the modern art venue Waldengallery that is located in Buenos Aires. It is hidden from view behind a towering brick-red wall and features the works of regional powerhouses, such as the hallucinogenic pornographic photography of the late Argentine conceptual artist Oscar Bony. The other one is called La Galerilla, and it is a tribute to the glory days of the town. It provides young artists with repurposed freight-train cars to contain site-specific pieces, such as the whimsical, bestiary-inspired collage art that was created by Loló Benanti from Brazil.
On our last day in Uruguay, we made our way back towards Punta del Este to check out the Museo de Arte Contemporaneous Atchugarry, which is considered to be the country's first important contemporary art museum. Located in a 99-acre sculpture park, it opened in January with a major retrospective of environmental installation artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, as well as a series of 27 hypnotic heliographic prints by León Ferrari. Felipe was struck by the scope and scale of the exhibition.
The permanent collection is located on the lower level of the museum in a gallery with black walls and no windows. It features works by international luminaries such as Frank Stella and Peter Halley in addition to works by Uruguayan masters such as Mara Freire, who was a prominent figure in the Concrete Art movement and Joaqun Torres-Garcia, who was the pioneer of Latin American Constructivism. Sculptor Pablo Atchugarry of Uruguay, whose foundation is responsible for operating the museum, revealed that he dubbed the space "the catacomb" because to its dim lighting. The artworks give the impression of being a piece of drama, as though actors were suddenly appearing on stage.
More than anything else, MACA has been instrumental in establishing the area immediately to the east of Punta del Este as a legitimate destination for art. Sugary beaches, delicious food along the water's edge, and the possibility of spotting famous people will undoubtedly continue to draw tourists to this section of the coast of Uruguay. Atchugarry expressed the hope that people would realise that "it has a beating heart of culture, too" now, saying, "The hope is that now."